By CHAD RHYM Senior Copy Editor
He was born and raised in Compton, CA. He has tattoos that sleeve his arms and dreadlocks that drape down his face. He’s taller than average, standing at six feet three inches. He is an African American.
This man must be a thug.
False.
In the 2014 National Football Conference (NFC) championship, Seattle Seahawks All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman swatted San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s game-winning touchdown attempt to Seattle Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith for an interception, sealing a Seahawks win.
During post game interviews, Sherman went on a rant about being the best defensive back in the league while being interviewed by Fox Sports sideline reporter Erin Andrews whom he’d previously hugged before the clip was aired.
Richard Sherman became a phenomenon.
However, Sherman’s expressive rant led to negativity all across the media world. The Phil Robertson fanclub spent no time disgustingly creating memes that implied that journalist Andrews was being attacked by a monster and was some sort of damsel in distress and other racist arts and crafts.
Hilarious.
The biggest takeaway from the Sherman saga was the implication that the all-pro is a “thug.” For heaven’s sake, who wouldn’t be pumped off of adrenaline after making the game winning play to send your team to the Superbowl. He could’ve streaked across the field and Lambeau leaped into the visitor’s section for all I care, he earned it.
The proposperous conclusion that Richard Sherman: Stanford graduate/humanitarian is a thug simply because he expressed his excitement is utterly ridiculous.
“The only reason (being called a thug) bothers me is because it seems like it’s the accepted way of calling somebody the ‘n-word’ nowadays,” Sherman said to USA Today.
Thug is the new N-word.
Recently, the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames got into a huge brawl before their game even began. Remember when all those white men were labeled as thugs and gang bangers?
Me neither.
His dreads drape down his face, his tattoos sleeve his arms and his Stanford diplomas hang on the wall.
I wonder how many gangs he’s in?
